Aeroplane for horizontal and vertical flight



Dec. 30, 1930. J. E. NOEGGERATH 1,786,545

AEROPLANE FOR HORI Z ON TAL AND VERT I CAL FLIGHT Filed April 26, 1926 2Sheets-Sheet 1 In ven forw J'amb Msegyera/b Dec. 30, 1930. J. E.NOEGGERATH 1,786,545

AEROPLANE FOR HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL FLIGHT Filed April 26, 192 2Sheets-Sheet 2 50 the horizontal.

Patented Dec. 30, 1930 JACOB EMIL NOEGGERATH, OF BERLIN, GERMANYAEROPLANE FOR HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL FLIGHT Application filed April 26,1926, Serial No. 104,640, and in Germany April 29, 1925.

My invention refers to flying machines and more especially aeroplanesadapted to rise and descend substantially in vertical direction.

Ae'roplanes of this type have hitherto been designed either under theform of helicopters embodying besides the traction or pressure propellermounted on a horizontal shaft one or several propellers mounted onvertical shafts, or special means such as an additional carriage havebeen provided which allowed an aeroplane of the ordinary type to riseafter a short horizontal start.

The present invention has forits object an aeroplane of the monoplane ormultiplane type provided with one or a plurality of hulls which isarranged to rise'without any previous start in horizontal direction, sothat the angular position of the propeller shaft relative to the baseremains the same when at rest and when starting, no rolling of the 4craft on the ground taking place when starting and under certaincircumstances also when landing. I For the purpose of the presentspecification the term aeroplane is intended to cover all flyingmachines provided with bearing planes for horizontal flight. The termextremeposition of the carriage is intended so to mean the positionassumed by the carriage on normal landing or when the craft is moving'asa glider, or else the position of the carriage for substantiallyvertical rising or landin The term base is intended to 35 cover t e lineof connection between the restfing oints of the carriage or boat hulland the end (tail) of the hull or, in hydroplanes and the like, thewater line, in' other words the ideal horizontal when landing or startl4 ing. The term rear portion of the hull is that part which extendswhere the carriageis atand the tail or the rear In order to enintendedto mean between the points tached to the hull, end of the steeringmeans.

21 able a flying machine to rise and descend substantially in verticaldirection, a corresponding tractive compressive action of the propelleris required and the propeller axis must extend at an abnormally largeangle to With an ordinary aeroplane a start without rolling becomespossible already at an angle of 20, better still with 25 or or more,however the carriage struts must then be abnormally long.

According to the present invention vertical rising and landin isrendered possible by varying the lengt of the hull, either by making thehull in two parts capable of telescopic motion relative to each other orby providing means whereby the steering members such as the tail rudderscan be folded down upon the hull, or in some other way.

A normal aeroplane provided with a sufiiciently powerful propeller canbe made to rise at a very steep angle by providing means, whereby theangular position of the propeller relative to the base or better stillto the hull can be varied. Preferably also the bearing planes aremounted on the hull for. angular adjustment relative to the base.Particular advantages are obtained if the axis of the engine and theparts of the hull associated with the engine can be adjusted an ularlytogether with the axis of the prope ler. I can further provide one or aplurality of hulls specially designed to carry the propeller and, ifdesired, also the engine, these hulls being adjusted angularly relativeto the aeroplane, and more especially to the main hull or hulls servingfor the accommodation of pilots, passengers and loads or for thesuspension of rudders or the like.

I have further found that an ordinary aeroplane can be rendered fit forsubstantially vertical rising and descending by providing it withrudders and other steering or balancing surfaces which are considerablylarger than usual, this increase of the size of the steering membersbeing necessitated in view of the fact that the velocity of rising ismuch less than the veiocity of horizontal flight.

I can, however, also provide additional steering and balancing surfacesbesides the ordinary flight and preferably such additional steering andbalancing surfaces are mounted on the additional hulls carrying thepropellers and in some cases also the engines.

I prefer mounting the fuel and lubricant surfaces provided forhorizontal tanks, the pilots seat and other parts in fixed positionrelative to the landing gear and I prefer mounting those parts of thehull or those hulls which serve for carrying the pilot, the load and thesteering surfaces in such manner, that also during verticalrising anddescending these parts of the hull or these hulls will remainsubstantially in horizontal position, for instance by hinging orotherwise movably connecting them to the propelling set or sets or tothe bearing planes or both, that under the action 0 gravity the firstmentioned arts will always remain in substantially orizontal position.Preferably this position of the pgrts is assured by roviding suitablebra 'ng means between t e arts.

In the'drawings aliixed to this specification and forming part thereofseveral forms of aeroplanes embodying my invention are illustrateddiagrammatical y by way of'exam le.

n the drawingsv Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an aeroplane of themonoplane type having abnormally In e steering surfaces and anabnormally hi landing gear.

Tig. 2 is a similar view of ahydroplane having similar characteristics.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of an aeroplane having its landing gearpivoted to the hull so as to allow angular adjustment. of the partsrelative to each other. The same machine also shows means for varyingthe len h of the hull.

i 4 is a monoplane with two large long carrying hulls and two enginehulls, which are placed in close vicinity to each other and are capableof angular adjustment relative to the load carrying hulls.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a hydroplane.

havin three superposed bearing planes, the arts eing shown in normalposition for orizontal fii ht.

Fig. 6 is a ront view.

Fig. "7 is another side elevationshowing the arts in position forvertical fli ht.

Fig. 8 is an elevation of a monop ane with the bearin planes and enginehulls ivoted to the loa carrying hull and adjusta le relative to thislatter and to the landing gear.

Fig. 9 is a similar view showing the parts in osition for verticalflight.

ig. 10 is a front elevation corresponding to Fig. 9.

Re erring first to Fig. 1, 1 is the landing at, 2 the hull and 3 are thesteering suraces mounted at the tail. As shown 1n the drawing thelanding gear is of abnormal hei ht and in consequence thereof the angleenc osed between the axis of the hull which is also the axis of thepropeller shaft, and the base is abnormally large amountingsubstantially to 30. The steering surfaces are abnormally large in sizein order to allow the craft to be steered properly also when rising ordescending at comparatively low s ee Fig. 2 shows a machine of thehydroplane type with an abnormally hi h landin gear 4 mounted on floats5, the hull 6 enc osing a large angle with the water line. The steeringsurfaces 7 are here also much largerthan usual. The floats 5 are pivotedto the struts 4 so that during horizontal flight these floats will alsoextend substantially in horizontal position. I

When a machine such as shown in Figs. 1 or 2 is started, provided thatthe tractive effort of the propeller be suiiiciently powerful, the craftowing to the large an le of inclination of the propeller shaft wil riseat once. The craft can either land in the ordinary manner by gliding onthe ground or on the water or m the case of strong head wind it maydescend horizontally, the hull being made to assume the position shownin the drawing before landin In the monoplane illustrated in Fig. 3 thelanding gear 8 is pivoted to the hull 9, thereby allowing the angleenclosed between the landing gear and the hull to be varied as well asthe angle enclosed between the longitudinal axis of the hull and theground or the water line. The same effect can be obtained by reducingthe length of the hull, the tail end 10 of which is movably connectedwith the hull proper so as to be reciprocated relative to the hull. Theend position of the tail, when the length of the hull is reduced forstarting, is shown in dotted lines. S rings (not shown) may be insertedbetween t e tail and the main portion of the hull.

Fig. 4 illustrates a monoplane having two load carrying hulls 11, 11 andtwo engine carryin hulls 12, 12 mounted between them. The caring planeis made in three parts, a middle portion 13 and two lateral portions 14.An axle 15 extends across the ]uxtaposed parts and the several portionsof the bearing plane as well asthe engine carryin' hulls are fixed onthis axle while the loa carrying hulls 11, 11 are loose thereon so thatthe engine carrying hulls as well as the bearing plane are capable ofangular adjustment relative to the load carrying hulls. The enginecarrying hulls are mounted so close together that the propeller circlesoverla each other.

In the triplane illustrated in igs...5-7 the load carrying hull 16 hasthe bearing planes 17 and the engine carrying hulls 18 pivoted to it, anaxle 19 which may be tubular extend ing across a superstructure 20mounted on the hull 16 and allowin the bearing planes 17 to be adjustedangu arly relative to the hull 16 together with the engine carryinghulls 18. This is best seen by comparing Figs. 5 and 7. In Fig. 5 thebearin planes and the engine carrying hulls are s own in position forhorizontal flight, while in Fig. 7

they are shown in position for vertical flight.

The distribution of the weights is so'chosen that the centre of gravityof the engine carrying hulls substantially coincides with the axis ofthe tubular axle 19. Means (not shown) may be provided for braking thepropeller shafts, when adjusting the parts, in order to reduce thegyroscopic action. The main hull 16 is shown suspended intermediate andbelow the bearing planes.

Besides the normal steering surfaces 22 attached to the end of the mainhull 16 additional steering surfaces 23 and 24 are shown to be arrangedat the tail ends of the engine hulls and these additional surfaces aretherefore subjected to the action of the propeller wingv whereby duringthe rising of the craft in vertical or oblique direction, moreespecially if the hulls are adjusted at an angle to each other, aparticularly eifective steering and stabilizin action is obtained. Forsimilar purposes urther additional steering surfaces 25 are arranged atthe tail edges of the adjustable bearing planes, and all these steeringsurfaces (which may have the form of ailerons) can be connected in pairsor altogether for adjustment in equal and opposite directions.

The angular adjustment of the parts is effected by well known mechanicalmeans or by operating the ailerons or other steering surfaces or thelike.

The bottom wing or hearing plane is shown to be spaced farther from themiddle plane than the top plane. The centre of rotation of the bearingplanes and engine hulls is so arranged relative to the main hull thatthe resistance offered by the main hull when rising or descending issubstantially equal on both sides of the centre of rotation.

In the aeroplane illustrated in Figs. 8-10 the engine, hulls and bearingplane are also adjustable relative to the main hull and to each other.The wings 26 and the hulls 27 carrying. the engines 28 and propellers 29are mounted on the ends of the axle 30 which extends through the mainhull 31 so as to be ad- 1 justable relative to this latter. The enginecarrying hulls 27 are provided with ribs 32 and ribs 33- are alsoarranged on the wings. These ribs serve for reducng the so-calledinduced resistance inasmuch as they counteract the laterally flowingcompensating current-s.

propeller shaft, bearing plane, and steering The. greatest normalangular adjustment of the hulls relative to each other is shown in Figs.9 and 10, but positions intermediatethe two endpositions will frequentlybe useful. As a rule the parts are adjusted for angular displacement bywell known mechanical means (not shown) or by means of the steeringsurfaces 34, 35, 36 or the ailerons 37.

Additional ailerons 38 can be rovided for stabilizing the verticalflight, ut in most cases the angular position of the engine carryinghulls relative to themain hull sufiices.

As shown in dotted lines in Fig. 9, the two wings can be adjustedangularly relative to each other. By thus adjusting the wings relativeto each other, they can be made to serve as stabilizing or steeringsurfaces during vertical flight. Part or all connections with thesteering devices including the surfaces 22 can be made to extend acrossthe axle 30 which is mounted in the centre of pressure of the wings sothat these latter do not offer any resistance vto the angular adjustingof the engine carrying hulls. A brake (not shown) allows to fix theengine carrying hulls in poislitipn relative to each other and to themain An additional surface 39 which can be movably or rigidly arrangedat the head of the main hull and may be provided with a movable surface40, can serve together with the tail rudder for obtaining a uniform airresistance on both sides of the longitudinal axis of the craft whenrising or descending in vertical direction.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to theexact details of construction shown and.described,-for obviousmodifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

I claim i 1. Aeroplane for horizontal and vertical flight comprising asupporting structure, a. tiltable plane on each side of said structure,a separate propeller associated with each plane, ailerons on saidplanes, and additional steering means, said ailerons and said steeringmeans bein arranged in the propeller air blast and being adapted to bemoved together with the planes and the propellers.

2. Aeroplane for horizontal and vertical flight comprising a supportingstructure, a tiltable plane on each side of said structure, separatepropellers associated with each plane, and steering means arran ed inthe propeller air blast, said planes being adaptedto be adjustedangularly relative to each other.

i 3. Aeroplane for both horizontal and vertical' flight comprising asupporting structure, a propeller, a propeller shaft, a bearing plane,and aerodynamical steering means arranged in the propeller air blastabout an axis in a vertical plane parallel to the longi tudinal axis ofthe supporting structure. said means being adapted to be moved togetherabout a substantially horizontal axis.

4. Aeroplane for horizontal and vertical flight comprising a fuselage, atiltable plane projecting outwardly on an axis between the top andbottom of the fuselage on each side thereof, a separate propellerassociated with each plane, and steering means arranged in the propellerair blast, said steering means being adapted to be moved together withthe plane and the propeller.

5. Aeroplane for horizontal and vertical flight comprising a fuselage apropeller, a propeller shaft, 0. bearing p ane, additional alancin meansconnected with said fuselage, 'an aerodynamical steering means arrangedin the-pro eller air blast aboutan axis in a vertical p ane parallel tothe longitudinal axis of the supporting structureand about a horizontalaxis perpendicular to said first axis, said propeller shaft, bearingplane, and steerin'" means being adapted to be moved toget er about asubstantially horizontal axis.

In testimongwhereof I afiix m signature.

JACO .EMIL NOEGG BATH.

